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3.31.2011

Hey lovelies, hope you are all having a wonderful Thursday! It's currently 75 degrees with a promise of at least 80 today, and the sunshine is just glorious!

I fully took advantage of the weather and my free mornings with a bike ride. Nicole and I had plans to attempt my June triathlon bike route again, so we set off at about 8:45am. This was us before we headed out, see how clean and happy we are? BTW, isn't Nicole in incredible shape? She motivated and inspires me with her dedication to clean eating and exercise, and it shows! She has lost about 35 pounds since August, as well as completely changed her lifestyle.

We stuck to some back streets that mirrored the main road I would be taking for the tri, but were safer for our morning ride. I was prepared for the death hill that took my by surprise the first time I rode this route, and had amino acids in my water bottle for fuel, and a game plan to attack the mile and a half climb--mainly don't burn out, keep pedaling, and don't stop! This picture I snapped near the top of the hill.

This time around the hill was tough, but not nearly the monster I remembered from a few weeks back, and we made it all the way to the super secretive IBM campus. Unfortunately, the intercom speaker squawked at us that it was private property, and we couldn't ride through the quarter mile of campus that the route used, so we had to turn back. Me being the experiences hiker of the county park we were at decided we should take a hiking trail back and totally show the IBM meanies who was boss. Hmm, maybe not my brightest idea, as we are just seeing sun this week after 10 straight days of torrential rain. The trail I am used to hiking was full of muddy puddles, rutted beyond belief, and tough to navigate when you are biking faster than I normally walk. We ran into a little trouble going up a hill through mud when Nicole's chain popped off and got stuck between the gears and the frame. We, being inexperienced bikers, tried to "fix it" by tugging on the chain and basically doing nothing more than getting dirty. Some ladies who were hiking the trail totally came to our rescue and within a minute one was able to do what we had tried for 10 minutes in vain to do, and the chain was properly in place! We continued on our trail, going through horse gates and riding on the bumpiest terrain imaginable through the back country and finally emerged in suburbia right where we needed to be.

When I got home, Nicole headed off to school, and I took a look at the damage. Nothing major, just mud mud and more mud. Yes, the mountain bike does live inside. It's like furniture that motivates Billy and I to get outside and ride :)

3.30.2011

Here's a little PSA for you lovely ladies who, like me, enjoy a good giveaway. Katie, over at Words by Katie is hosting a FABULOUS giveaway, if I do say so myself! The giveaway consists of her favorite things, and I can tell they would be some of my favorites, also! I hope you get a chance to stop by her blog and enter to win, although I do not wish you luck, because I want to win!! Just click her blog title above to be taken to the correct entry :)

Tonight, I roasted a whole chicken for the first time. Now, I usually work with plain old, trustworthy boneless skinless chicken breast, so roasting a whole chicken, skin, bones, giblets and all, was quite intimidating. In my healthy recipe research I did last week, I stumbled upon this recipe for Lemon-Rosemary Chicken and filed it away for another evening when I felt brave enough to attempt it.

Well, my dears, that day was Tuesday evening. I rather audaciously invited my running buddy Nicole and her boyfriend Jason over for dinner. We realized last week that though we know each other socially, we have only really seen each other for workouts for the last 6 months or so, and had to remedy this quickly! Now, it's pretty brazen to attempt a new recipe, with a whole new take on chicken that I have never endeavored to cook before, but I figured if I was going to make a whole bird, I might as well share it, good or bad.

Thankfully, this recipe is pretty fool proof, and made the roasting much easier by directing me to stick the whole chicken in the crock pot, turn on high, and not touch it for 4 hours. Simple? Yes, please! I did double the amount of butter called for, and stuffed it under the skin with about 6 cloves of garlic, as well as rubbed butter over the skin, and stuck garlic inside. I also used lemon pepper, instead of plain old pepper, and I have a little tiny crock pot, so no rack was used. Let me tell you, it was delicious! So simple and easy, even for a whole chicken newbie like me! It was juicy and tender, and broiling it after the crock pot did make it look all goldeny-brown and awesome. My little 4lb chicken fed 4 adults, and gave me a ton of shredded chicken leftovers for tomorrow. I will definitely be making this recipe again! I served it with steamed fingerling potatoes, and a beautiful and tasty salad that Nicole brought over.

For dessert, {because there HAS to be a dessert if you have company} I quickly found this recipe for Hot Chocolate Fudge Cakes that seemed simple enough while still being lower calorie {Nicole and I are very calorie conscious, but love our desserts} that would fit the bill. I didn't have enough brown sugar, so I supplemented with granulated white sugar and honey. I didn't have enough cocoa powder, so I added a tiny extra bit of flour. I didn't have a dark chocolate bar so I used milk chocolate chips. Even with fudging the recipe as I did, the cakes turned out awesome, and everyone was happy! I now have a new go-to chocolate cake recipe for company!

The reason I was able to eat all of this yummy food was because for the first time, I completed a triathlon! Well, not a race anyway, but I did do all three of my events back to back at the gym. I swam 900 yards {race distance is 880 yards} in the pool, went to my Tuesday spin class for an hour which would be about 10 miles {race distance is 14 miles}, and then decided I was feeling all sorts of cocky and would run on the treadmill for 3.25 miles in 32 minutes {race distance is 3.1 miles}. I am used to doing a swim and spin workout 1-2 times per week, so that wasn't too bad, but adding in the run at the end was killer! I can't believe I made it through all three activities today. When I got home, I could literally wring out my clothes because I was so sweaty. I also felt like I could eat everything in the fridge. I burned over 1,200 calories, so I was able to eat a lot more today than I normally would, and it's a good thing because I was hungry!

Now, don't assume I have been a lazy girl this whole day! I did get up a little extra early to hit the trails with Nicole for a 5.5 mile run {in the glorious sun and beautiful weather that was promised!}, then started the laundry, showered and got myself ready after a nice little breakfast. Unfortunately, It's almost time for me to head to work, and I just want to eat eat eat everything, and continue being lazy. Le sigh. I'm trying to continue with the healthy eating trend this week, but all I want to make is CAKE! I told you before, I am my own worst enemy in the kitchen, and like to sabotage myself by baking. I'm trying to resist baking this week, as I know once it's available and in my house, all my healthy habits become a distant memory.

What do you do when you feel extraordinarily lazy?

Or like baking sweet treats when you know you shouldn't?

OK, I'm going to check the laundry and rustle up some healthy lunch for myself {pout} Hope you ladies have a wonderful rest of your Monday!

Stylish, pssshh, me? What? Seriously, if you know me in real life, you know stylish really isn't one of the words that would describe me! However, I will accept this lovely award from an equally lovely blogger friend.

It comes with a few stipulations {doesn't everything?} So here you have it:

~Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award {gotcha!}

~Share 7 things about yourself

~Award 10-15 blogs you feel deserve the award {that's a lot of ladies to award, especially after so recently passing on the Versatile Blogger Award!}

~Contact these bloggers to let them know you gave them an award

About me:

I hated running for the first 12 months I was consistently doing it. The 13th month, however, I realized I loved it, and now feel anxious or weird if I don't exercise Monday-Friday. Funny how I don't mind on the weekends. Just a little encouragement for anyone who is starting out with running, and is hating it now, if you stick with anything long enough, it gets better!

I knew I was going to marry my husband the day I met him. Maybe not marry him exactly, but I knew he was going to be special in some very large way. I never believed in soul mates until Billy. I'm a cheeseball, I know.

Much of my rationalizing is done in black and white. Example, loyalty. I will put up with a ton for a very long time, but cross some invisible line, and then no longer. I also have trouble forgiving, so this is a tough line to cross back over.

I love recognition. Doesn't matter what it is for; cleaning the house, a really pretty bridal hair and makeup application, or a job well done in another arena. I usually fish around Billy, and often will repeat something that I am proud of around others. Silly?

I prefer to sit on my couch, catch up with my TV shows, read blogs, and be lazy than go out and be social or "act my age". I like acting 56, thank you very much!

My pets are my babies. I am putty in their paws. I like them much better than most people. Shhhh.

I have the hots for Jason Statham. He is my lovely hunky actor crush, and Billy fully supports this because it is his man crush too ;)

What I learned this weekend:
~It's a glorious day, and the weather forecast predicts temperatures in the 70's this week. I am thrilled! The constant rain over the past two weeks has really bummed me out.

~Marlo LOVES her new bed. I got it at Ross {does any one else remember that catchy tag line from the commercials?} It's the same colors as the fleece blankets we have on the couch, and the cover zips off and is machine washable, major score for just $17!

~I tried on a pair of micro sized shorts while at Ross, and I can't believe people routinely wear these tiny things out in public! Funny enough, I bought them {$8.99, woot!}, even if just for kicks...and cleaning around the house...and my Heidi from Tool Time costume for next Halloween. What, doesn't everyone plan their Halloween costumes out the year before months in advance? What do you think? SHORT! This is my new favorite shirt, btw. It looks better without the short shorts, and straightened out, also $8.99!

~I really want to see Sucker Punch, even though it got terrible reviews. The graphics and CG effects are phenomenal, and the girls are so cute! Sometimes plot can suffer for pretty.

~Marlo got into a fight at the dog park. She was playing well with the much larger dogs {3 pitts and a wolf malamute} but another dog started getting up in her face and they got into it. Thankfully she made it out just fine with just a little scratch on her chin, and the other dog was OK too.

~Modern Family is a wonderful TV show! Gloria totally reminds me of my dental hygienist Maria, they could be sisters, I swear! So many funny quotable lines, I am loving it!

~I really, really want long flowing extensions. They are extremely unpractical for me though. Waist length extensions just don't do well under a swim cap. Or constantly pulled up in ponytail as I sweat it up on the trail. Or under a helmet on a bike ride. See, not practical at all, but fantastic nonetheless! I think I'm dying for them because I just put a head full in on my friend Maeve. Don't worry, we cut and styled them after this photo!

~Despite wearing gloves during the application and the shampooing process, I still managed to end up with a purple hand from a clients' funky color. Being a hairstylist means I routinely come home covered in other people's hair color.

3.26.2011

"Pick the day. Enjoy it - to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come... The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present, and I don't want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future." —Audrey Hepburn

Now on to life!

As hard as I try, I will always be my own worst enemy...in the kitchen! I heated up some baked potatoes from the other night for dinner, and then made chocolate chip cookies. I have had a few, but not nearly as many as I normally would have, because I don't like the way they turned out. Looks like my "fail-proof" cookie recipe was quite the failure tonight. Not sure why, either, just that it's not as good as usual. By the way, chocolate chip cookies are my crack. No kidding. So maybe this failed batch of cookies was a good thing, so now I won't totally ruin my healthy eating!

I chose the "Will Run For Cupcakes" headband, and I can't wait to get it and try it out!

They are supposed to not slip off your head and also absorb sweat, which makes me so excited! Slipping and heavy sweating is a problem I run into with every workout. And the elastic in the "non-slip" bands break my hair, so those are out too. I will do a product review once I try out the bondi band and let you know all about it! Is it sad that I am a little worried about my giant forehead and how prominently it will be displayed with a bondi band?

3.24.2011

Alas, I am, very much, a night owl. I seem to have the juvenile idea that I will miss out on something if I go to bed, so I fight the sleepiness, and stay up much too late. It doesn't help that Billy would prefer his day to end at 2am, and begin at noon, so he stays up late every evening also. I think I may just want to be in the same room with him, so I fight sleep even though I know I should be in bed.

The rain did not let up when I hit the trail for my hill workout with Nicole this morning, so we bundled up and prepared to get muddy. Her dad Jim {also our swim coach} ran with us, and requested we go up the "backside" of St. Joseph's hill instead of by our traditional way which takes us up the dam by the reservoir, and only has 3 intimidating hills and a nice easy descent coming down the back. The backside is a steady climb to the stop, about 2 miles of switchbacks and muddy terrain. The pouring rain mixed with my sweat, and probably a few tears too, as we made our way to the top, and we were soaked through within minutes. Coming down the dam area was a relief, and we had a mile long stretch of flat ground to the end, which we used to stretch our legs and upped our speed to a pretty uncomfortable pace, for me at least. Even with the rain and going up the harder way, we still knocked 3 minutes off our usual time, which was fantastic! We were splattered with mud, and our shoes and clothes were soaked, but I think we were all pretty proud of our 4 mile hill run in the rain with a better time than normal.

Time to update you on my healthy eating progress. I didn't make the Chicken stuffed with spinach, feta, and pine nuts like I had planned. Instead I had a Subway oven roasted chicken salad with Kraft fat free Italian dressing and 2 snack packs of baby carrots. I put it into livestrong when I got home, and noticed I was under 1200 calories for the day, and was still hungry. So I went into the kitchen, and announced to Billy all the lovely "healthy-ish" sweet snacks I could have. He told me to make a protein brownie, so I did! It's not the best tasting thing in the world, but it's filling, does a little something for a chocolate craving, and has 20 grams of protein for just 200 calories. It even sort of looks like a brownie, which is cool. Let me know what you think if you decide to make it!

1/2 tbsp baking soda {I'm experimenting with this quantity, as the brownie sort of tastes like it, but I'm not sure how much I can reduce it and still get the rising action that makes the whole thing a brownie}

3.23.2011

I had this broccoli cheese soup recipe simmering on the stove, potatoes baking in the oven, and caught up on lots of TV tonight, so this here is one happy girl!

The last few weeks I have had absolutely zero incentive to cook, plan meals, or create healthy options for myself to grab and go when I am in a hurry. This resulted in lots of bad food choices being made, culminating in a moment this past Sunday where I said "enough already!" after a 4th chocolate croissant was mindlessly consumed.

Obviously, I needed to make a quick change to get myself back on track with my healthy habits. I think strong is the new skinny, and I have been working so hard daily with my fitness, but have been seeing no results due to my diet.

Each pound I lose makes me faster, lighter on my feet, and increases my endurance. This can be seen from the 10 pounds I lost in 2010 and the -1.5 minutes per mile I took off my regular 5k time. I want to be faster, stronger, and more motivated than ever in June when my first triathlon comes around, so I have to lose a few more pounds, and really fuel my body with the right foods to maximize my workouts.

Sunday afternoon {after eating those dang croissants} I researched some healthy and yummy looking recipes, and Monday I planned my meals for the week, and shopped. I was not deterred by the massive lines at Trader Joe's and the inevitable crowds at Costco, the fact that I had to go to 3 different stores to get everything I needed, or the hail that fell on me as I loaded my trunk with groceries. I was determined.

And I succeeded! Monday I ate exactly what I had put into my daily plate on livestrong, and I have done that again today. Here's hoping the rest of the week is as successful! I've already added all of my food for each day into livestrong, so I am hoping it keeps me accountable to not eat outside of those foods!

Planned weekly menu:

All dinner recipes come in under 350 calories per serving, and you will see I like to eat the same thing repeatedly throughout the week, I'm boring like that!

3.21.2011

Happy Monday, lovelies! I hope you all had relaxing and refreshing weekends, and are looking forward to your week ahead. I was very busy this weekend, and I am SO GLAD it is Monday!

As usual, one of my favorite Monday morning treats is Meg's Mingle Monday series! Unfortunately, Meg is feeling under the weather today, and has postponed the hop until she feels better. So instead of linking up today, please head over to her site and leave her some love and positive energy! Also, if you have any family remedies or tried and true concoctions that make you feel better when you are sick or have the flu, please share those with her while you visit her site!

What I learned this weekend:

~Babysitting two nights in a row, while fun and great for extra money, takes a huge toll on me

~Sean, 7yo, whom I used to nanny for (uh, 4 years ago!) is so big now, but still such a cuddle bug :)

~Young boys love to wrestle, get loud and physical together, and it's much easier to referee when necessary, rather than waste my breath telling them not to do something that they will inevitably not listen to anyway.

~Unexpected Sunday mornings off are fabulous after said babysitting jobs on top of regular work

~Clip-in extensions make everyone happy. It's really one of the easiest ways I can ensure my clients love their special occasion hair. I highly recommend a set to anyone with going out plans.

~I really miss Billy when I don't get to see him because I am out late

~I'm a little self-conscious about my own makeup applying skills and Target brand {plus nice stuff, too!} filled kit when I work with awesome artists who use MAC, Chanel, and Dior like it ain't no thang.

~I learn so much working with talented makeup artists, just from watching what they do.

~This rain storm we are experiencing is awful. Please no floods!

~It's spring now, the rain needs to go away so it can be sunny and 70, just the way I like it.

~Linking up with my favorite blog friends {Hey Meg and Julie!} on other sites like daily mile and run keeper is very motivating, and I can't wait to workout more!
~In my quest to rationalize life for myself in the last 5 years, I have lost my ability to truly empathize with certain situations, such as people experiencing deep depression that causes them to self-mutilate or harm themselves. I wish I could understand what drives them to do this, but to me it's not rational and it doesn't make sense, so I just don't get it.

3.18.2011

Your weekly Audrey inspiration. I think this may be one of her most often used quotes, and for good reason. She shared wonderful insight into living life in a way that does the most good. I am refreshed by Audrey.

"For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others."

3.17.2011

Happy Thursday, lovelies!! I am on an exercise high today, and so stinking proud of myself! I deviated a little from the Tuesday/Thursday Swim & Spin workout I normally do. I still went to the gym and swam 1,000 yards, but I skipped spin class and headed outside instead.

Nicole and I tackled the triathlon bike route I will be doing in June, and it was no joke!

{Actual route, about 2 miles less than what I did today}

We started at my apartment, caught the trail, and then headed out on the route. The first 7 miles were flat and along a busy street, so it was a bit scary to ride with cars taring past us, but we made it. Just before mile 8 or so, we turned off into a county park, and hit the WORST part, a grueling steep climb that lasted almost 2 miles. I got off my bike and walked for a bit in the middle, because I started too fast and burned myself out.

{A pretty good representation of me walking my bike up a steep hill}

Near the top, we hit the IBM campus, and it said private property, so I wasn't sure we were supposed to be going that way. Another biker told us they never stop you, so we finished the climb, then got to SPEED down 1.5 miles! It was exhilarating! I hit 34mph, on a mountain bike mind you, and it was awesome! We met back up with the trail and took it to another busy street and all the way home. Our ride was 15.57 miles total, which we completed in 1h34m, burning over 700 calories and climbing over a 1,000 feet. When we got back to my place, I wanted to eat absolutely everything in site, but managed to curb the hunger monster

{all you weight watchers ladies know what I'm talking about!}

with one tangerine cupcake {Thanks Meredith for the recipe!!} and a bowl of chocolate peanut butter oatmeal, yum!

If you are wondering about my post title today, Running up that Hill is the name of a song Placebo covered that I first heard in a spin class when we did a grueling hill workout, which obviously reminded me of the crazy hill on today's road. Check out the video!

Adrienne posted this, and I thought it was fun, so I am also hopping on this wagon!!

T. Time you wake up: between 7-8am for workouts, or as early or late as needed depending on schedule.

U. Underwear: bikini cut mostly, thongs on special occasions, and commando for working out. What, TMI?

V. Vegetables you don’t like: leafy greens. I really don't like salads, but I eat them, and don't get me started on collard greens and stuff like that. I eat pretty much everything else and love it, though.

W.What makes you run late: An extra snooze, a cuddly hubby, not managing my time

X. X-rays you’ve had: Countless back and spine, both arms {broke right in 2nd grade, and left in 5th grade}, teeth